Points to ponder as the Canucks were first to admit they were last to pucks, last in a battle level and last to get their heads into the game in a 3-1 loss to the Ducks on Thursday at Rogers Arena:

SBISA SOUNDS THE ALARM

Luca Sbisa wasn’t sure where to start. Was it the pressure to make it three wins in a row and climb back to the .500 bar? Is that why the Canucks played too passively for too long and allowed the Ducks to have their way in the offensive zone? Sbisa blocked seven shots and had three hits, but he also committed three turnovers.

“Even if you get outmatched in the corner with a guy who’s 20 pounds heavier, you can tell by the way you battle that the compete level wasn’t 100 per cent,” said Sbisa. “Especially against them, you’ve got to work extra hard and it was pretty disappointing.

“I think it’s something with our heads. When your mind isn’t in the right place, you waste a lot of energy by not having the right mindset. Something was off. We didn’t have that jump.”

The first actual Canuck shot didn’t come until the 12-minute mark, even though an earlier Erik Gudbrason attempt that was going wide was stopped and credited as a shot. And because the league’s top face-off team won 62 per cent of the draws — including 74 per cent by Ryan Kesler — the Ducks not only started with the puck, they transitioned quickly and had the Canucks on their heels early and often.

“We knew going in that our compete level had to be at its very best to just stand a chance against them. Some guys are smaller but that level wasn’t there. They’re a balanced team and they have speed and size and all that, but if we play to the level we’re capable of then we can win a game like this.

“But we weren’t good as a group of five — we were too spread out. Against a heavy forechecking team, you’ve got to make those plays in the corner and come out as a group and we didn’t. I don’t why it it happened. We had a lot of momentum going into this game.”

STECHER A TARGET, CAN’T FIND TARGET

Troy Stecher was going to be a target Thursday. He was going to get hit and the Ducks were going to take away his point shot — especially on the power play. Yet, as much as it was a tough learning lesson, his compete level was still there and that said something on a night when that wasn’t the case top to bottom.

Stecher’s first six shot attempts were blocked and that said something about a guy who walks the line as well as he does, has his head up and gets quick and accurate shots away in a hurry. But only two of his nine attempts actually got the net.

Troy Stecher had seven of his nine shots blocked Thursday and was targeted physically by the Ducks.

“They obviously pre-scouted that and I didn’t have much time on the blueline to get anything through,” said Stecher. “It seemed like they were rushing out there as soon as it (puck) hit my stick. They have big forwards with a big reach and I couldn’t get much on it (shot) with the limited time and space. I’ve got to do a better job at finding ways around it. I’ve got to clue in a bit earlier and maybe put the puck around the boards.”

“Tonight, was one of those nights where you face a lot of adversity, but you can’t get down on yourself — you have to continue to battle. We were slow in the first two periods and playing catch-up in this league is hard to do.”

The Canucks had a 5-on-3 power play for 58 seconds in the second period and in trying to erase a 1-0 deficit, they didn’t go to Stecher as Henrik Sedin continually tried to thread passes from the far wall with one finding Daniel Sedin at top of the crease. What about the point?

“Maybe,” said Stecher. “But they (Sedins) are incredible with what they do and almost had the tap-in on the backdoor play. It’s his (Henrik’s) call and he’s in charge on the power play.

MILLER MIFFED AT COGLIANO GOAL

It looked like a total whiff when Andrew Cogilano’s shot went through the wickets of Ryan Miller to make it 3-1 with 2:25 remaining. That wasn’t the case. It hit Troy Stecher’s stick and took any steam out of the Canucks mounting a late charge for the equalizer.

“It just hit the under part of his blade and just hopped back the other way,” said Miller. “I was reading the release glove side and that was just enough to send it on its edge. But you want to be tight to cover that — it wasn’t a great goal.

Ryan Miller took ownership of the third goal that changed directions on him.DARRYL DYCK /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

“It skipped on me and I didn’t have my stick in the right spot. But I have to get myself in a better position to react to that.”

Miller’s head was on a swivel for the first two periods because the Ducks had dominant zone time, won board battles, got their cycle game going and got bodies to the net.

“They do a good job at getting pucks deep and they’re heavy,” he added. “It’s not easy to play them. You need a more complete effort of getting the puck deep and having zone time of our own early in the game. I tried to kill the play in our zone to get us some relief, but they’re a good face-off team, too.”

DESJARDINS DISHES ON START, STECHER

On the start: “We weren’t good enough early and we had a chance to get back into a game we didn’t deserve to get back into. We started without the puck a lot and your face-offs are an indicator of one-on-one (battles) and that’s what it is. We weren’t good enough.”

On what didn’t happen: “We’re a transition team and we didn’t turn pucks over (just three take-aways) and get to the net. They (Ducks) took charge. They had segments where they were in our end and they wear you down. And every time you come out you’re changing (lines) and you’re in a bad cycle.”

On Stecher being a target: “You’ve got to love his effort. If everybody played like that, I’m OK. That was a tough team and he took some heavy hits and he was banged up a little coming out of the game before (Tuesday against Minnesota). He’s a gamer.”

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.